In The Dark Of The Night
by siwan-angel
Summary: Several months after the end of Trinity. The virus had only limited effects, now King and Abigail are looking to form their own Stalker cell, when they stumble across a new Hunter who has a dark past of her own.
1. Chapter 1

The shadows slithered and danced across the walls, exaggerating harmless figures into grotesque and frightening forms. She was well past fearing the shadows of the night, there were worse things that lurked in the darkened streets; it was their shadows that one could come to fear. Vampires! Bloodsucking filth! That in Aideen's opinion should be eradicated from the face of the planet. Yet time and time again they proved themselves as versatile and hardy as the bloody cockroach. There were some days where she believed that nothing short of a nuclear holocaust would remove their pestilent grip on society, 'and even then' her pessimistic side reminded her 'they would probably be the most likely to survive, along with their cockroach buddies.

"They deserve each other" Aideen mumbled under her breath, as she drew her weapon. Her high powered semi-automatic pistol was not only a comforting weight in her hands, but the modified UV rounds gave her further reassurance. At the sound of approaching footsteps, she moved into the shadow of the large apartment block. Steadying her breathing, she quietly and slowly edged round the side of the building, hoping to gain a glimpse of her quarry. There were three of them two males and one female. As they approached her hiding place, she was able to catch snatches of their conversation.

"A fine night for hunting, aye?" the female voice stated.

"Do you have to be so open and obvious about our intentions? Somebody might hear" cautioned a male.

"What? And tell the whole world that vampires roam through the city, gorging themselves on human flesh? Oh I can see the paper headlines now …Vampires! Monsters of the Night!" mocked the second male. "Your pathetic" he added his tone changing from mocking to scorn.  
Waiting patiently in the shadows Aideen, wiped the sweat from her palms. The adrenaline was kicking in, all her senses heightened as the first of them came into view.

"There is no need to be afraid of some ity bity humans, what are they going to do? Scream at us? The female sarcastically remarked as she came round the corner.

With a smile, Aideen stepped out of the shadows and around the building, gun up level with the nose of the female.

"Ity Bity this bitch!" Aideen snarled as she blasted a single round dead centre between the vampires's surprised eyes. Without waiting to see her turn to ash, Aideen was already spinning to her left and releasing two rounds into the chest of the closest male vamp, "for a vampire you have shitty reflexes mate" she mocked as the UV rounds turned him to dust before his body even had a chance to hit the ground. Quickly scanning the abandoned street she spotted the last vampire fleeing from her. With a sigh of exaggerated patience she raised her weapon and shot him once in the back of the head.  
Muttering "pathetic" she holstered her weapon and slipped back into the shadows, the night was still young.

************

"What do you mean we cannot afford to buy more coffee? We are a multimillion dollar, albeit highly secretive underground movement. And we can't pull together the cash for some coffee?! My God! What is the world coming to?!" A very tired and now pissed off Hannibal King ranted. "I happen to need coffee! Especially at this time in the morning"

"You seem to be functioning just fine without it at the moment, and it's the afternoon" an overly patient Abigail pointed out. King glared at her from the other end of the table, choosing to ignore the fact that she looked busy reading something from her laptop.

Waving his favorite coffee cup in the air, the one with the blue and yellow care bears on it he continued to rant at Abigail. "I'm only functioning at the moment cause I'm working off the rage, from the poor management of our…of this…whatever the hell you want to call it. But mark my words…" he paused for effect, watching to see if Abigail was paying any attention "when this anger wears off I'll be as useful as a paraplegic in a foot race! He finished dramatically.

"Oh, so no real change from normal then. Abigail absently returned, not even bothering to look up from what she was reading on her screen.

"Ow! Now that hurt Whistler" King replied, changing tact and placing his coffee cup over his heart and making puppy eyes at his long suffering friend, who continued to pointedly ignore him. He stood in that pose for a several seconds, then realizing she wasn't going to play ball, he walked round to where she was sitting and proceeded to read over her shoulder.

"You know I hate it when you do that" Abigail stated.

"All the better reason to do it then" King replied, distractedly, the article on the screen now drawing his full attention.

Sitting back in her chair, Abigail watched him read the article. He really was quite pleasant to look at. Having a toned strong build, tall, blonde, blue eyed and just emanating masculinity, a powerful adversary and a loyal friend, he was everything a girl could want, if it wasn't for his ability to annoy the hell out if her she might have made a move. But relationships in this trade made things more complicated than they already were, so he was her closest friend but nothing more. Snapping out of her brief daydream she noticed he had finished reading the article and was giving her a weird look. He looked about to say something overly witty, so she cut him off with a question.  
"So what do you think King?"

King decided to let it go and contemplated the information on the screen then sighing dramatically he replied "I think we need to find this wannabe and tell them how it's done; I mean you gotta be professional about this sort of thing. It's not like we just go out and shoot every single one we find. Then again, on second thoughts that's exactly what we do! I think we should find this fellow hunter and reward them with a medal, no a trophy, wait! Better yet! A jar of coffee!!"  
"Ha ha! Very funny" Abigail sarcastically returned  
"Hey I was being serious, coffee is a precious resource it seems, what better gift could we give, I mean..." cutting off what looked to be another of King's prepared rants with a look that could kill birds mid flight, Abigail calmly closed the top of the laptop. "So you reckon we should find whoever it is that's pissing off the local vampires and extend an invitation for them to join us?" She asked trying to direct the conversation away from King's new found coffee fixation.

"I don't see why not. I'm so over being a ring in for this cell. I reckon it's time we built up our own stalker cell again." King sedately replied, he really wasn't a fan of Abigail's dirty looks, cause when it came down to it, she could whoop his ass if she wanted.

"Okay then it's settled, we're going hunting for the hunter tonight." Abigail began packing up her things, she paused what she was doing surprised that King hadn't made some smart arse reply. She had to smother a smile after glancing at him. He was just sitting there staring into his empty coffee cup, looking like a little boy who had opened his Christmas presents only to have found coal. "Okay, fine. First we'll go buy you some coffee. Abigail relented

"I knew you'd see it my way eventually" King joyously replied as he headed towards the door.

"The things I do for him, I don't know why I bother" Abigail muttered under her breath.  
In hearing her mutterings he retaliated over his shoulder "Because you love me"  
"Only because no one else will" She called after his retreating back.


	2. Chapter 2

Aideen had that feeling, that niggling sensation that she was no longer the hunter, but now the hunted. She glanced quickly over her shoulder and broke into a run, while scanning the streets for a good place to hide. Nothing had gone to plan tonight. Her first target had through a miracle managed to dodge her shot, and raced off to warn his buddies. They then decided to turn the tables and go after her. She'd been able to shoot her way through the first pack, but a lucky kick from one of bastards had floored her and sent her gun flying under a car. She had escaped and a stupid part of her mind had thought maybe she'd lost them, but now here she was running for her life, and completely weaponless.  
"God I'm such an idiot! What fool goes out hunting without a second weapon" She cursed to herself as she continued to frantically scan the shop windows for something she could use. "I always carry a knife, always! But no not tonight, tonight I had to go out feeling cocky!" suddenly a neon sign caught her eye. "Oh thank you Lord, finally a break!" picking up the pace she headed towards the flashing "Walter's World of Wonderful Weapons"

She came to stop outside the store and peered through the window "ghastly name, non-existent security, and almost every kind of weapon imaginable, looks my kind of store" she quickly moved towards the heavy security door and in one graceful movement slammed her foot through the safety glass. "Shit, Shit, Shit." She breathed under her breath, as the glass slashed through her pants and into her leg. Snapping off a few of the larger shards left in their frame, she slipped through the now destroyed door into the shop, where she was promptly greeted with the sound of the alarm. "Well if they didn't know where I was before, they sure as hell will now" she muttered darkly under her breath as she limped through the rows of knives, swords, and bows searching for something that took her fancy. Within a minute she found what she was looking for "hello there, well aren't you two a sight for sore eyes" Taking off her jacket she wrapped it round her fist and smashed into the cabinet who's contents contained two silver martial art Sai. Another quick scan of the surrounding shelves revealed their sheath, and a third Sai, only an idiot went into a fight without a back up, and she had, had enough of playing that role for tonight.

The sound of approaching footsteps and hushed voices, spurred her into action, taking the third Sai, she sheathed it behind her back, and then picking up the other two she made her way back to the shop's newly furnished door.

"So here we are, just a walking down the street, singing..."

"Grow up King" Abigail snapped

"We have been combing these streets for hours and still nothing, I'm not big on no shows" King replied frustrated "I mean I haven't killed anything in hours, it makes me jittery"  
"Oh poor King, it's all about you isn't it" Abigail drawled sarcastically "you wanna try being a little bit less self centered?"  
"I am not self centered, simply self focused" Abigail raised her eyebrow "There is a difference" King assured her. "Now wait a minute, this looks promising" Abigail looked where King was indicating. Two cop cars were parked out the front of 'Walter's World of Wonderful Weapons' as they got closer to the shop they could see that someone had obviously trashed the place. "So I'm thinking somebody needed a bunch of weapons and they needed them fast, so they broke into this strategically placed yet incredibly badly named shop" King explained.  
"What? You worked that out all by yourself? Wow King, your skills of observation never cease to amaze me" Abigail bit back.

"You know, sarcasm does not become you" King retaliated  
"Maybe not, but it does sustain me."

He ignored her fast comeback, and brushed his hand over the gun strapped to his thigh, in an unconscious gesture. "We're getting close." They both moved quickly past the store staying on the other side of the road, as inconspicuous as possible, neither one wanted to be questioned by the cops, seeing as they were both armed to the teeth. Abby was decked out with her quiver full of arrows and her compound bow, hidden beneath her jacket. She was also carrying her UV Arc and a modified electronic pistol strapped to her hips. King was sporting his typical armory; A right thigh holster carrying his electronic pistol with it's modified sundog rounds, and his falco shoulder holster which hid his 629 S&W Beefeater. They passed the shop and headed down the street towards the park. "Well looky here, someone has left us a pretty trail of breadcrumbs to follow" King motioned with his hand to get Abigail's attention. Just ahead of them at the entrance of the park, they could see what looked to be the still smoldering remains of several vampires, "Looks like maybe three or four" Abigail concluded as they moved closer to get a better look, "killed about ten, maybe fifteen minutes ago"

"You gotta be either very stupid, or very brave to head into a park, alone, in the dark, with many vampires." King observed, his eyes scanning the area for more remains.

"Let's hope it's the latter, I'm not fond of stupid people. I only like them a little bit more than I do vampires." Abigail said as she discarded her jacket and headed into the park bow at the ready. King sighing followed behind, his eyes never leaving the tree line.

*********

The park had been her safest bet. Out on the streets she was too exposed, and these vampires it seemed had no qualms when it came to trying to shoot her dead in the middle of a potentially witness based area. Not to mention, her leg hurt like hell, and running was starting to become a problem.

The first of them had caught up with her just outside the park, so she had taken the offensive and waited for them to come to her. Killing the three of them without getting shot had been a miracle, and she had a feeling that her miracle quota for the evening was just about up. She tensed as a female vampire walked under the tree she was hiding in. She had been sitting in the branches of her tree for about ten minutes, and instead of the blood pack moving on like she had hoped they would, it seemed they were content to simply mill around her hiding spot.

'Probably waiting for me to pass out from blood loss, and just fall into their laps' she thought darkly, which she was scared to admit was a real possibility. The two gashes on her leg when she kicked through the glass were deep, and they were bleeding steadily, with no sign of letting up. She relaxed slightly as the female moved out of her range of vision, and tried to flex feeling back into her hands that were holding her Sai in a death grip. There was nothing for it, she was trapped. She had counted at least ten of them, eleven including the female she had just seen. Looking through the branches she took in her geographical situation again, trying desperately to think of a way out of her self made trap. The park was only several acres big with small groves of 5 or 6 trees separated by large open clearings, perfect for picnicking and sport but not ideal for moving about unseen. She could see the lights from the road to her right and to her left in the distance she could make out lights from a housing estate that looked to back onto the park. Her tree was the middle one in a grove of 5, but past the trees it was a sea of open ground, dotted with a park bench here and there. Nothing absolutely nothing was coming to her.

"Shit, well that's that then, no choice I'm not going to wait around till I drop unconscious from blood loss." Carefully and quietly she moved from straddling the branch to now crouching on top of it. After pausing briefly to recover from a spate of dizziness, she tensed her muscles and dropped down from her branch into the middle of the pack below. Rolling as she hit the ground to avoid jarring her legs too much, she came up slashing. Aideen became nothing more than a blur of black and silver, like a dancer performing a well known routine, she stepped, ducked, dodged slicing and slashing, continuously moving trying to stay ahead of the vampires responses. Suddenly a blow to the head sent her sprawling facedown to the ground. Recovering quickly she rolled and flung her right Sai at the closest vampire's face, it embedded itself in his eye, letting out a scream of agony he convulsed then disintegrated. A booted foot connected with the left side of her head, addling her brain for a moment, but long enough for the remaining vampires to have her surrounded.

"Shit" Aideen muttered. Of the eleven only 5 remained, but she was on her back looking up at them with only one Sai, the one at her back unreachable. One of the males stepped a little closer, blew her a kiss and raised his pistol. Aideen watched him set up her execution with a detached feeling. Hearing the gun go off she closed her eyes waiting for the pain. Nothing happened, opening her eyes she was just in time to see the vampire turn into smoking ash. Aideen didn't know what to think, As another vampire became dust as an arrow shaft shot through his chest. One minute she was about to eat lead the next she's being dowsed in the ash of the last remaining vampires. Aideen was still processing the transformation of her situation when a laughing voice pierced through her daze.

"Oi sweetheart, you gonna stay sprawled in the dirt, or are you going to get up and greet your saviours?"

Pushing herself up onto her elbows Aideen squinted through shadows, making out two forms. She was too weak from blood loss and the blow to her head to care whether or not they were friends or foes. But seeing as they had just wasted the vamps, she was inclined to consider them friends for the moment but better to be safe than sorry. Slowly she pulled herself up, slipping her hand behind her to release the Sai at her back, while pretending to use the tree to brace her battered body, which wasn't hard to fake.

"Sorry you will have to forgive my rude behavior, you caught me at a bad time" Aideen replied dryly.  
Abigail and King strolled out of the shadows, providing Aideen with a better view of her 'saviors' as King had so delicately put it. She only got a quick look at them before the ground suddenly rose up to meet her and she slipped into comforting oblivion.

"Nice going King" Abigail mocked

"What?! How is this, my fault?" King asked surprised as he holstered his pistol and carefully gathered Aideen's unconscious form up in his arms "I merely said hello."


	3. Chapter 3

She's a tough one, I'll give her that"

Aideen awoke to the sound of voices just off to her right. Trying not to alert who the voices belonged to, she kept her eyes closed and tried to determine where she was.

"Yeah well we all know how much you value stupidity in people King" a female voice replied

She was lying on what felt like a hospital bed, having spent a great deal of time in and out of hospitals she knew the feeling well. They had taken her clothes, and her weapons obviously, but she could feel that the cuts on her leg had been attended to. There was a drip in her left arm sliding it further under the covers, she used the edge of the bed, to quietly roll the tape partially off and flick the canular out.

"Oh come on Whistler, admit it, she is one spunky chick! She took out at least 10 vamps solo and losing a bucket of blood to boot" The original voice had moved closer now and Aideen focused on keeping her breathing even and body loose.

"And you saw the way she moved, like a freaking cat!" The male voice was right next to her bed now. She felt the cold metal muzzle of a gun on her temple

"I know you're awake, personally I would hate to shoot you, but if you do insist on doing something stupid…" King left the sentence hanging and waited. The first thing she saw were his eyes, mocking and hard. King raised an eyebrow

"So you've decided to return to the world of the living?" Aideen just flicked a cold glance at the gun still held at her head in reply. Pointedly ingnoring both King and his gun, she slowly moved her body into a straighter sitting position, causing the sheet to slip dangerously low down her naked torso.

"Was it really necessary to remove all of my clothes?" she asked nobody in particular as she took in her surroundings. She was in what looked to be a converted bunker of a sorts, basically bare except for another 2 empty beds a reinforced steel door and what looked to be ammunition cupboards which probably now held medical supplies. They were underground, the piping and the rock roof confirmed her original suspicions from the musky smell. Laughing King removed the muzzle of the gun from her temple.

"He'd like to think so" Abigail drawled as she moved away from the cupboard she had been leaning against. Aideen gave her the briefest of glances before turning her cold gaze back to the mocking man, who still held the gun ready at her bedside.

King put up his hands in defence "I saw nothing, the doc needed to make sure you weren't hurt elsewhere"

"Well in that case can I have some clothes now?" Aideen asked "unless of course my getting dressed is a security threat?" She mocked coldly, disdain thinly veiled.

"What is it with us helping people and the way they just won't stop gushing their appreciation." King asked Abigail over his shoulder. Abigail just shrugged.

"I mean one thank you is enough, really! No need to go over board or anything" King continued as he grabbed a pair of black track pants and a grey sports top with his left hand, from the chair that was sitting beside her bed. Throwing them at Aideen he flashed her a cheeky grin. Aideen raised an eyebrow indicating he give her some privacy, to which King just shrugged and shook his head.

"Oh for Pete's sake King get out" Abigail snapped.

"Whistler?" King begged

"I have it handled" Abigail confirmed coldly. King shrugged, flashed Aideen another cheeky grin and sauntered out of the room.

"You work with him on a day to day basis?" Aideen asked surprised at the other girl's patience

Abigail grimaced "Surprising isn't it"  
Aideen smiled thinly as she pulled on the grey running crop top. Then swinging her legs round so that they hung off the side of the bed, she slipped on the track pants. Abigail stood about six feet from the bed, her left hand gently resting on the holster of her pistol, watching the actions cautiously. Aideen looked up from tying the tie on the pants to see Abigail staring at the glyph on Aideen's right hip. They made eye contact and Aideen could see the tension simmering just below Abigails cool exterior.

"I'm not one of them" Aideen spoke harshly "It's a memory from a dark time, nothing more" she roughly explained. She held Abigail's gaze refusing to be the first to back down. Abigail simply nodded and broke the gaze. Relaxing somewhat Aideen moved off the bed, cautiously testing her weight on her leg. She noticed Abigail still had her hand hovering over her holster. "Look no offence, but are guns really necessary? I mean you guys have all the advantage. I have no idea where I am, how many of you there might be past that door…?" Aideen left it hanging watching the muscles in Abigail's shoulders for any sign of relaxation.

"No offence" Abigail replied coldly "but as King said earlier your display in the park was not exactly human, and we stay alive due to extreme caution. Until we know exactly who and what you are, I'm keeping my gun nice and close" Their gazes clashed, tension filling the room again. This time it was Aideen who backed down, shrugging she broke the eye contact and waited for Abigail to make the next move. Abigail indicated with a flick of her head that Aideen was to lead and they headed out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

(Have changed writing style; rest of story will be in first person, from Aideen's perspective.)

The tunnels twisted and turned, and it didn't take me long to become disorientated, me being rather directionally challenged and all.

"Where are we?" the slight awe in my voice couldn't have gone unnoticed, damn me and my curiosity! But to the heavily armed girl behind me's credit she did explain a little.

'We're not entirely sure when it was built, but from what we can tell this place is some sort of emergency shelter, built to house and sustain 100's of people for a considerable time, my partner reckons it's Cold War, which is as good a guess as any."

I had more questions, but the tunnel was opening up and I could feel the girl, 'Whistler' I think he called her, tighten up with tension. If I was a gambling girl I'd bet good money that she wasn't too excited about the prospect of me seeing what was up ahead. I could feel the adrenaline begin to surge through me, and had to fight to keep my body relaxed and loose so as not to give away my own building apprehension. The tunnel dropped away to reveal what looked to be an industrial sort of basement. Crates along with metal bracing and structural supports off set with a depressing shade of grey seemed to be the chosen décor.

Just off center to the tunnel on the left was your typical industrial staircase which led to a small platform balcony and another door which looked to be reinforced steel. It seemed like the perfect place for a quiet execution. Faking cool, calm and collected like my life depended on it, which I had no doubt it did, I shot a glance over my shoulder to the left which progressed into a spectacular pivot when my companion was not behind me. I didn't so much as see but rather feel her to my far right so using the spins leverage to throw out my right leg at what I hoped was gun height, I put my body behind the action and was rewarded with what felt like solid contact and the sound of metal hitting the floor. The uncontrolled spin took me another 180 degrees, leaving me facing a wall. Dropping to a crouch just as a bullet hit where my head was I spun out again keeping my leg low and sweeping. I felt her legs go and heard the gun slide from her grip, this time my momentum was controlled and I had her flipped and pinned a second later.  
"Bitch" She hissed at me  
"Stupid" I hissed back, although unsure as to who it applied to more. Clarification presented itself half a breath later when a cold muzzle came to rest between my shoulder blades.

"Play nice – or I may be forced to do something unpleasant" The man's voice was unmistakable, and so was the threat. I relaxed my grip on her arm and head then stood up slowly, the gun at my back never moving. I stepped away from the sprawled woman giving her room to stand and consequently stepped closer to the owner of the gun.  
"You okay?" King asked the now upright girl, after shooting me a deadly look she answered his question with a nod.  
The gun still hadn't moved from my back but the tension in the room was beginning to dissolve.  
"This is starting to become a habit with you and I" I quipped at King, refering to the fact that everytime we had met so far he'd been pointing a gun at me. I hadn't taken my eyes off Whistler as she bent to retrieve her gun.  
"I agree, one more rescue from me and you'll totally be in my debt" King chuckled,

"You…" I gasped. I could not think of a bad enough word, and without thought I swung round to face him. Big mistake.

The gun was now pressed against my left breast, my back was turned on the irate and now re-armed Whistler and my face was just inches from King's very smug one. We were so close we were sharing each others air.

"Yes?" His eyes were wickedly amused

My palms tingled; I needed to hit something, bad! After taking a couple of calming breaths which seemed only to enhance his amusement, I stepped back from the gun and angled myself side on to him keeping my arms loosely by my side in the most non threatening way possible. Now I could see both of them and the gun wasn't pressed into my flesh. That wasn't to say that either of them had relaxed their stances or their guns trained on me.

"I'm sorry' I said to the stone smooth face of Whistler. "I shouldn't have reacted to your movement the way I did"

She acknowledged my apology with a nod and after another couple of breaths relaxed her hold on her gun. But I didn't receive any apologies in return. Geez, it's not like I almost shot her head off!

I had a glance at King, and saw that he too had dropped his arms and the offending weapon was trained safely on the floor. He saw my look and gave me a wink. Scowling slightly I focused back on Whistler.

"Shall we continue with the tour?" King suggested breaking what could have become an awkward silence.

He led us up the stairs, with Whistler behind me gun trained at my back.  
Trusting lot aren't they.  
Through the door and onto another balcony, but this time the room was a lot cozier. Unlike the basement room we had just left, this felt less like a factory and more like an enormous sized loft. Boardwalks criss crossed along the roof joining staircases from the 2 far corners of the room with the balcony we were on. The room was warmly lit and much better decorated then its neighbor. There were a couple of beaten up comfy looking couches haphazardly gathered around a TV in one corner, and what looked like compact archery range in another. Instead of just concrete on the floor there were lush rugs under the lounge area, what looked to be the dining/meeting area and the small library, which was made up of four large book cases, two of which were resting against the back wall underneath the balcony and the other two were free standing either side of them.

I couldn't help but give an appreciative whistle.

"Nice huh?" King smiled warmly at my impressed expression. "It's got everything a person needs, even coffee!"  
I raised my eyebrow at the last part, but gathered it was a private joke.


	5. Chapter 5

Whistler sighed behind me, and my respect for her rose another notch. Anyone who could live with this guy and not kill him had to be one of those 'saint' like people, the ones who had endless amounts of patience and self control, I certainly was not one of those people.

King was moving again, and we followed him across the boardwalk and down the stairs to the right. Halfway down the stairs the painkillers began to wear off. I tried to hide the limp that was beginning to develop, but the relief on my face when I finally hit ground must have showed. I looked up and there he was smirking like a freak'n Cheshire cat.

"Don't say it" I warned, teeth clenched and hand up in warning. He cocked his head to the side, and I could tell something unbelievably "witty" was about to spurt forth again.

"Don't say what?" he asked innocently and holstered his gun.

"What are you doing?" Whistler's voice behind me sounded almost irate, so maybe she wasn't so 'saint' like after all; there was hope for me yet.

"I'm just going to give our guest a helping hand" I realized his intention a moment too late and only had to time to get out a high pitched "Don't you…" before his arms came low around my hips. Dropping his shoulder he knocked the breath out of me and consequently the fight. I was bent over and then hoisted like a sack of potatoes flung over his shoulder.

A really dignified moment for me.

The temptation to punch him in the kidneys was almost overwhelming but I was still very much aware of the third person in our party who, only moments ago had, had a shot at my head. So I kicked him low in the abdomen instead. Just low enough mind you, to remind him of the delicates that were kept only a little further south.

"Again with the gratitude" he griped and the childish petty side of me delighted that his voiced had lifted slightly with pain

Then I was falling.  
"Ow!-Jerk" I muttered darkly as my body made impact. The couch I had 'so gently been placed on' was so worn you could feel the wooden supports through whatever padding remained. I had been dumped dead centre so my back smacked against the middle support, not exactly the epitome of comfort.

"Your welcome" was the only reply of sympathy I got.

Pushing myself into a more comfortable supine position I glanced around the room, anything to keep from looking at what would assuredly be another superior smug look, from the gun wielding devil who was now perched on the couch arm at my feet.

The room was just as warm and homely as I had thought from above, well, as warm and homely as a factory floor could be. There were blue mats leaning up against a wall, which I hadn't noticed from above, and a shelf of weights exponentially increasing in size. These guys were ripped. I had experienced first hand the speed and agility of Whistler, and King seemed more than adequately in shape. More than adequately, who was I kidding? He was all muscle and bad wit.

"Soo…" Great to see my conversation skills were improving

King raised an eyebrow and waited

"You kill vampires for a living?"

"Yes" Whistler replied from behind me. I must have jumped half a mile.

"Holy crap! Would you please stop doing that" I yelped glaring at her as she moved to sit on a couch in my line of sight, my heart couldn't take much more of these stress induced adrenaline surges. At least she finally holstered her gun.

King chuckled. And that was it, I snapped. Personally I think I had done very well up to this point, and that it is not my fault that my reasonable level of self control had been pushed way past breaking point. After all it's not like I had a gun!

"How is that funny?" I snarled as I pulled my legs in and under me, wincing as I moved into a better position to launch myself at his stupid face if he dared to say one more moronic thing.

He went to open his mouth and I unleashed all my pent up fear and frustration. I flew, I don't think there is any better way to describe it. I flew at him, throwing my whole body against him and knocking us both off the couch. He hit the floor hard, me riding the impact on top of him. My left hand feinted up as if to scratch his eyes, which he blocked with his forearm and got a trail of bloody scratches for his effort. My right hand however had gone for the hip and had slid down his thigh to wrap around the grip of his pistol I had pulled it free far enough to get a finger on the trigger, when I felt his left hand wrap around my throat. I angled the pistol into his thigh and added pressure so he could feel it, At the same time I felt his hand tighten minutely. He could easily snap my neck, I could feel the controlled power in those fingers, as it was I would have bruises if I lived through yet another of my temper driven rampages.

"Let go of me" I commanded coldly

His only response was to flip us.

To my credit I didn't shoot him. But I seriously considered it when he used his new found leverage to press his leg down on my injured one. My back arched, bowed in pain, the rest of my body pinned by his legs and hand at my neck.

"Bastard" I whispered as my torso slumped back to the ground, but still I didn't shoot him, that has to make me eligible for an award or something.

So we stared at each other, him flexing his fingers and me digging the pistol in harder.

Then suddenly he let go.

Just like that he released his grip on my neck and gun arm. Raising his hands he tucked them behind his head as he straightened his torso, and took his weight off me putting it on his knees. The whole time never breaking eye contact, he looked serious for once, and didn't even flinch when I pulled his pistol completely from the holster and gripping it with both hands aimed directly at his heart. I watched him suspiciously as he pushed up on the balls of his feet and stood in one fluid movement. He stepped to the right and I was no longer between his legs.

"I still haven't decided not to kill you" I growled up at him suspicious of this seemingly easy victory.

"Your not going to kill me, just think of how dull your life would be without me" he replied, his trademark grin re-appearing

I don't know what possessed me but rolling my eyes I snorted in derision and without dropping my aim pulled my legs up and did a sit up. Resting the pistol on my knees while I had a quick look for Whistler I was surprised to see not only had she not moved from her couch, but her gun was still holstered. Eyes back on King I gripped the couch arm that I had just knocked him off and pulled myself into a somewhat upright position. It seemed my leg had decided to give out, so I was kind of 'Leaning Tower of Piza'ring' it.

That's when I noticed we had company. A little girl to be exact. So points to King for not wanting to strangle me to death in front of a child but guess who felt like the bad guy now?

Sighing I flipped the pistol round and handed it back to King grip first. Then I felt the prick of a needle on the back of my neck 'Aww shit…' was the last thought I had, then, I think I passed out.


	6. Chapter 6

Added another 500 words or so to the chapter! Enjoy!

"It was all just a bad dream, it was all just a bad dream", I continued to repeat my mantra as I cracked open my eyelids.

"Aww crap" eyes closed. Note to oneself light hurts the eyes, stay away from the light.

"Are you awake?" a young voice very close in front of me asked

"No" I moaned

"You sound awake" the voice persisted

"That's cause your dreaming" Yes, I was arguing with a small child. Realizing the futility of continuing on such pitiful path I opened my eyes, to see two little blue ones staring back at me, her face an inch from mine.

"gah! Kid you wanna move back just a tad?" she didn't move, maybe I was speaking some foreign language.

"My name is Zoe" She still hadn't moved, and seemed to be quite content to continue this conversation in my personal space. So I moved.

Pushing myself into a sitting position, I realized I was back on the couch I had so violently thrown myself from just recently. Eyes squinting from the still painful light I had a quick glance around, there was nobody in sight. I looked back at the kid she was sitting cross legged on the floor staring at me.

"Are you supposed to be in here?" After being shot at, wrestled with, half strangled and then injected I had picked up the vibe that I wasn't considered trust worthy, let alone babysitter material.

"Nope, I snuck in while they were arguing, King said you were pretty, Abby said pretty dangerous and the others weren't sure. You don't look that dangerous, Are you dangerous?" She was giving me that big eyed innocent child look, but something in her eyes told me she had seen the worst dangerous could find, and I didn't fit the profile. It was all too much.

"god I need coffee!" My whole body hurt, I had no idea where I was, who these people were, what time it was and now I was analyzing hidden messages in children's eyes, this could be considered as a bad day.

"King keeps a huge tin full in the kitchen, I could show you?" she scrambled off the floor and headed through the door near the weights.

"Hey wait up!" swinging my legs off the couch I made the error of trying to stand up quickly, needless to say the room tipped on its axis. "holy Hannah! What was in that needle?"

"Ketamine" the little voice called from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry what!?" So it was official, I was going insane.

Sticking her head out of the door she repeated it slowly for me "Ket-a-mine"

"Horse tranquilizer!! You shot me with horse tranquilizer?!!"

"Not me silly, the doctor. Are you coming or not?" I wasn't sure what bothered me more. Being injected with a horse tranquilizer, or that the kid giving me coffee had just shrugged off my outburst!

Letting go off the couch I tested my bad leg. It held! Woot! for the leg. "Ready or not here I come" I muttered under my breath and made the short but painful journey to what I assumed was the kitchen.

I don't know what it is about coffee that brings people back from the dead. Maybe it's the smell of liquid strength, or the golden velvet texture of heaven's own mana on ones throat that works the magic, whatever it is, god its good!

"Ok Zoe you are officially my new best friend!" We had been sitting side by side on the kitchen bench for about 15mins, me worshipping my beverage and my new little pal watching me avidly.

"You're almost as funny as King, when he drinks his coffee"

"Really? How so?" She slid off the bench and headed to one of the cupboards on the left side of the room. The kitchen was set up with your basic U shape. Sink at one end, door at the other, with benches and cupboards running either side. There wasn't enough room to sneeze in the space let alone have a table and chairs, so obviously everyone dined elsewhere. She emerged from the cupboard cradling what looked to be a giant bright green and purple coffee mug,

"What is that?"

Zoe giggled.

"This is King's coffee mug, no one is allowed to drink from it on pain of death" She passed it to me carefully.

"Are those Care Bears?!!"  
Zoe giggled again.

"Yep! Abby says they have a special meaning to King and Blade…" She stopped suddenly and looked at me fearfully, with good reason to. Blade, The Day-Walker, bane to all vampires was supposed to have perished in a great battle with literally the father of all vampires Drake, well that was the rumor circulating in both vampire and non vampire circles. There were a lot of people who would pay big money for information of Blade's possible survival.

"I…I wasn't supposed to say…oh they are going to be mad!" She was becoming more and more frantic

"Woah! Woah! Kid, its ok! No harm, no foul, I promise to pretend I heard nothing" Cause the one thing I needed right now was these wonderful hosts finding another reason to kill or at the very least incapacitate me again. Placing the coffee cup carefully on the bench so as not to knock it off accidently. No need to risk breaking the psychotic strong man's favorite mug. I reached my hand out, fist closed and pinky extended.  
"Pinky promise, I wont tell anybody" She responded to my gesture with a raised eyebrow, and a look which could be described as disdainful.

"What?" Its disconcerting being looked down upon by a kid, I can't be that out of touch with the children of the America? Can I? I'm only 22 for crying out loud!  
"No body uses Pinky promises anymore, they are too unreliable"

"Oh, my bad" Obviously I can be. "What do you use these days?" I am so going to need another coffee after this! She brought her hand up to mouth and spat on it. Make that 2 coffees! Following suit my own saliva made it onto my palm, and we shook on it.

"Zoe!!" Someone called, which was swiftly followed by a string of profanity I can only assume was linked to the subsequent discovery of my absence! Breaking our handshake with a jump, we both looked at each other guiltily, like 2 kids caught stealing cookies.  
"Ah, you might want to let them know your ok, I don't really want to be stuck with anymore needles today" I tried to make it sound like a relaxed light hearted suggestion, but I'm not sure how well I succeeded, I'm pretty sure my voice shook, from fear or something else.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey peeps, sorry for the enormous delay! Here a little more to keep you going. Please feel free to give me feedback about the plot and so forth...there will be some grammar mistakes in here, I wrote it rather quickly and haven't proof read too closely so I apologise.

She nodded in agreement and walked over to the open kitchen door and stuck her head out.

"I'm in here with Aideen, we're drinking coffee. See no harm no foul" I couldn't help but smile at her using my line. I have to admit, the kid was growing on me. An arm grabbed Zoe out of the door and two pistols swung round the frame closely followed by their owners, King whose face I was starting to get sick of seeing and another girl I was yet to formally meet, neither of them looked pleased to see me awake. I guess I need to work on my people skills.

I was sitting back on the bench again, trying to calmly drink my coffee, which no longer had any taste in my suddenly dry mouth. I could hear Zoe protesting in the background, something about it not being a crime to drink coffee and Abby quietly shushing her.

"I will not be quiet! She is my friend! I like her! And it's rude to point guns at nice people" she was starting to pitch a fit. "Let me go!" There was a muttered curse and then Zoe marched through the door much to the surprise of King and his companion and right up to me. And boy did she look pissed. She had a scrunched up look on her face and fierce points on red on cheeks. Her little fists were clenched. And there she stood, between me and the guns, glaring down the enormous King and his female companion. I was trying hard to keep a straight face, I really was. It was a very dangerous and volatile situation, but that little girl breathing heavily with fists clenched in my defence was just downright right adorable. My gaze met King's and his eyebrow quirked and then I was gone. I laughed so hard I almost snorted coffee. King was shaking, gun by his side an instant later, trying, without much luck, to regain some composure, the girl next to him hadn't lowered her gun but she was losing the battle against keeping her face straight, until she too dropped her gun to wipe tears from her eyes.

"What's so damn funny?" my little defender demanded. Abby appeared between the others at the door, gun holstered, and she was smiling, well I think it was a smile.

"You are kiddo" King said. He holstered his pistol and walked forward to pick up the now bemused Zoe and then placed her next to Abby.

"So you're not going to shoot her?" she asked suspiciously looking at all 3 of the adults in turn.

"Nah" King replied "She's sitting too close to my coffee cup, I wouldn't risk it" he winked at Zoe and then shot me a smirk.

I still hadn't moved from my perch on the bench, but I could feel my fingers starting to spasm from clenching my cup so hard. I focused on loosening my fingers and breathing while King and Abby escorted Zoe from the room.

"So we haven't been formally introduced" the stranger broke my concentration with her soft British accent. Attempting to implement some polite social skills I smiled vaguely but waited for her to say something else, I couldn't be trusted not to say something sarcastic and get myself shot.

"I'm Dr Jenna Price." Ah, so this was the lovely Ketamine wielding, syringe stabbing doctor from earlier. She was waiting for me to continue with the pleasantries, but now I had a wonderful excuse to dislike her immensely even if she had patched up my leg earlier.

"You injected me with horse tranquiliser" I was going to add 'bitch' on the end but decided against it. Aggression was probably not the best way to handle the situation.

At least she had the grace to look slightly embarrassed about it. "Yeah, about that, we didn't know what you were and if you were going to harm us..." she trailed off at my sceptical face, as I recall she injected me after I handed the gun back to King.

"It might have been a slight over reaction by everyone" she conceded. I snorted in derision.

"You think?" She shrugged at my tone. I guess that was as close to an apology as I was going to get.

"We did some blood tests while you were out" I looked up from the cup in my hands at her expectant face.

"Oh yeah?"

"We found some strange irregularities" I stayed silent, pretty much because I could tell it was starting to piss her off, childish? Heck yes!

"You're not vampire, and haven't ever been exposed to the virus from what I can tell" I didn't reply, but held her gaze unflinching.

"But you exhibit signs of being altered. You have faster reflexes than the average human, and are stronger most." She was starting to speed up, obviously taking my silence as an indication that she was onto something.

"You're blood work is mostly human but there is something there similar to the vampiric virus but different entirely. I have never seen anything like it before. If I could hazard a guess I would say it is some form of gene therapy, some type of genetic enhancement." I have to give credit where credit is due. Dr Jenna Price was one smart cookie. I was about to answer her when King and Abby rejoined us in the kitchen. It was starting to get crowded in that small space.

"So doc, did you find out if our guest is one of the X-Men or something?" He thought he was so witty, but from Doctor Price's face it seemed she had very little patience for him. I guess the Doctor wasn't so bad after all.

"The X-Men were the products of natural genetic mutation...King. In Aideen's case we are looking at a more induced change, the properties are of a synthetic nature not a natural evolutionary occurrence." The first part she said through her teeth the second was directed to Abby. I had a sneaky feeling they were about to start talking about as if I wasn't there, which was ok by me. It beats having guns waved in my face. But I wasn't to be so lucky. Abby pinned me with her stare.

"What's your story Aideen?" I'd have to ask how they knew my name later, because it was that tension filled moment where a decision had to be made if they could trust me, or if they were better off with me in a body bag. Seeing as I look terrible in black plastic I guess the truth might as well 'set me free'

"I am the product of the American government taking taxpayers money and using it on scientific research as opposed to alleviating poverty or improving infrastructure. Three years ago I was in college and living life up as an impoverished student. Flyers were posted around our Res offering cash in hand for students who were prepared to help with some medical trials. I was desperate so I put myself forward. Four of us were selected. We were the fittest, strongest the best specimens...yadda yadda. I don't remember much after that, just vague recollections of agonising pain, voices in the darkness and more pain. It was only later that I found out that I had been blacked out for the better part of six months." I paused and looked up from the cup I had been rolling around in my hands as I spoke. There was no pity in their faces, which was good; I don't take pity very well.

"After I had regained consciousness the doctors told me that I had been injected with a synthetic agent called TDTK, and no I have no idea what the acronym stands for. They told me I was part of a project to improve humans, better, faster, stronger...to make humans just as strong as vampires, all their strengths and none of their weaknesses. Unfortunately TDTK has this nasty habit of killing everybody that is injected with it. But it's not a nice quick death, it's slow and painful and infectious, think AIDS but a 100 times worse. So they told me they had to change their plans, instead of changing the human race, they would just create a group of 'bloodhounds' their word, not mine, that would kill all the vampires with this blood infection."

"But you're not sick" Doctor Jenna interrupted me.

"Yeah well, lucky me just happens to be the freak of nature that is the exception to their tests" I put the cup down and rubbed the sweat off my hands.

"Hold up for a sec, I just need to clarify...This infection only kills vampires right? These people are only infectious to vampires? This is a good thing yes?" King was looking at Jenna and Abby for confirmation,

"No! This disease that TDTK creates is infectious to everyone. Anyone who comes in contact with them becomes sick vampire or human, everyone is at risk!" I was trying hard to keep my voice level and calm, but I could feel the anger rising.

"So how did we come to find you and what about the glyph on your hip?" Abby asked, I could tell she was totally convinced.

"In all honesty, I have no idea about the glyph. Maybe it was to help the infected infiltrate vamp society, or maybe it was a sick joke by one of the dick heads who thought it a good idea to hurt people not just physically but psychologically too" I wasn't even close to calm anymore, and the kitchen continued to feel smaller and smaller. Both King and Abby must have noticed my agitated state, because they both brushed the pistols that were holstered close at hand. Getting shot was not a good plan, so I took a calming breath and closed my eyes so that I couldn't see the shrinking kitchen.

"My blood is the key to their little plan. They planned wipe out the vampires, freeing mankind from their pestilent grip, but not only that. You see the humans that become infected also will flood the hospitals, doctors will be at a loss as to how to cure them, and then in comes this company funded secretly by Government with a magic cure that people will pay dearly for, making some people very rich indeed, and giving the Government more power of the average citizen. What they didn't factor on was me experiencing an allergic reaction."

"What to?" Of course it was the Doctor who asked

"Authority," was my dry reply. King laughed and Abby did smile this time. "I escaped; they had after all made me faster and stronger than the average individual. But once I was out, things spiralled out of control. They sent the 'bloodhounds' after me and although I killed them, they will have infected dozens of people in their search for me and soon those dozens will infect hundreds and so on. It takes six months for the symptoms to show and it becomes infectious very soon after." I could see the horror on their faces.

"But that's not all" You see some of those infected were vampires and the disease is much more aggressive in them but instead of killing them like the idiots at the White House had hoped, its changing them. Those who are infected become faster and stronger than before and no longer as reliant on blood...making them harder and harder to kill."

"Shit" was Abby's response

"So TDTK did the opposite to what it was intended. It's killing the humans it's supposed to enhance and enhancing the vampires it's supposed to kill" Jenna clarified in a stunned voice

"Well they f'ckd that one up didn't they, bloody politicians with their greed and stupidity. If I could get my hands on the idiot who's brain child this was!" King was furious and that anger burned any of the laid back, goofball attitudes he had away, just for a moment I saw the reason behind his annoying exterior, Hannibal King was dangerous, vampires pissed him off and they were ash'd for it, but King in a rage would be more than a force to be reckoned with. He used humour to control his anger, to protect those he cared about from the possibility of being harmed if he ever lost control. Now I respected him.

"There's more." I didn't want to add fuel to the fire but these people were looking more and more like my allies, and yes we had all "overreacted" as Dr Jenna had put it earlier, but they deserved to know exactly what they were taking on if they accepted me into their fold. "The vampires know about me. They know I am the cure for the disease, which means I can save humans and destroy them. That's why I have been hunting them, trying to kill the ones that have been infected before they change...but this disease spreads faster than I can kill them."


	8. Chapter 8

JUST A LITTLE TEASER, MORE TO COME AFTER I BATTLE MY WAY OUT OF THIS PILE OF ASSIGNMENTS.

"That's why we found you in a park surrounded by vamps" Abigail put the pieces together

I nodded, I was all talked out.

"Bet they have a pretty big price on your head" King mused "Wonder how much they would be willing to offer us?"

Jenna, Whistler stared at him in disbelief, I contemplated the subtlest way to knock his mug off the bench.

It took him half a second to notice his comrades looks of disgust "What!?...Oh!..No!..I wasn't serious... I was just curious" he put his hands up to ward off the death glares.

The doctor looked like she was about to say something when an alarm went off, the noise ripping through my head like a jack hammer.

"What the hell?" I shouted over the din, but there was no one left in the kitchen to answer me, all three had acted instantaneously to the noise, I was slower off the mark due to the drugs still flowing through my system. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my system burning away the last of the ketamine as I leapt off the bench and followed them through the door into the main room. Jenna was looking at some monitor in the corner, King and Abby nowhere in sight.

"Doc?" I asked as headed into the centre of the room, looking for something I could use as a weapon against this unknown threat.  
She obviously hadn't heard me over the noise, engrossed as she was with whatever she could see on that screen.

"Oi! Doc!" She looked up this time. Raising my eyebrow, I indicated my love for an explanation in regards to the alarm.

"Somebody has tripped the external sensors" She quickly explained moving aside so I could see the pictures flashing on the monitor. There were two large unmarked vans parked at, what I assumed was the front of this building, but I couldn't see any people.

"Its daylight so it can't be Vampires" I reminded her still searching for any movement in the picture.

"Yes, but if it's not them, then who?" she asked nervously

I was about to rattle off a long list of my enemies to her but was interrupted by King coming down the stairs we descended earlier.

"I think you'll be needing these" he threw me a bundle, winked then raced off into a side room shouting orders to some unknown.

In my arms was an assortment of clothes that when I dropped to the floor and quickly rummaged through I also found my Sai and forearm holsters, a thigh holster and a pistol with sundog rounds. Almost felt like Christmas. I swapped my sweats for the soft brown leather pants and zipped up the matching jacket over my sports bra. Sliding the weapons into the holsters I turned to see King returning through the door an enormous shot gun slung over his shoulder and guns at his sides and back. He threw me another clip of sundog rounds then raced back up the stairs. I followed hard on his heels.


	9. Chapter 9

OKAY SO I OFFICIALLY HAVE A RATHER LARGE ESSAY DUE IN A COUPLE OF DAYS AND AN EXAM TO STUDY FOR, BUT SEEING AS I GOT SUCH A HAPPY RESPONSE FROM YOU ALL WHEN I FINALLY UPDATED, I THOUGHT ID DO IT AGAIN. OH AND JUST SAW THE ALTERNATE ENDING OF TRINITY WHICH INVOLVED WEREWOLVES...INTERESTING...VERY INTERESTING...

"So i'm guessing this makes us friends" I was still speaking to King's back as we raced through a door I hadn't seen earlier at the top of the stairs.

"Sweetheart, if we live through this, I'm looking at more than friendship" I was about to release a poisonous reply about even if we were the last two people...but Whistler's voice interrupted me.

"Propose on your own time, we're about to have company" We were on a walkway with two stairways leading down to another factory floor, but this one had several vehicles in various stages of repair or destruction, depending on if your glass half full or half empty kind of person, scattered across the space below us. At the far end of the space there was an industrial roller door, obviously once upon a time this was the factory's loading bay. So this was the front door.

Whistler had positioned herself at the top of the staircase to my right and King was setting himself up on the stairs to the left. Movement on the floor below us caught my eye. Two guys were scurrying between the vehicles like rats ducking in and out of my sight. Whistler, noticed my curiosity.  
"Jessie and Chris are laying charges that can be detonated remotely" she explained

"So it'd probably be a good idea to not descend the staircase when things start going boom" King helpfully added.

I'd be lying if I said the thought of pushing him down those stairs hadn't just flashed across my mind.

"We need him" Whistler piped up again. What the!? Was she telepathic now? The surprise obviously showed on my apparently overly expressive face, meeting my surprised eyes she smiled.  
"It was my first inclination" she shrugged. I couldn't help but snigger just a little. Turning away from me she put in earphones and I could tell she was going into the zone.

It turned to see King watching me.  
"What?"

"I'm more of a Hasselhof fan" he indicated towards Abigail who was setting up her ipod.

"You know, before today is done, I'm going to have either "accidently" stabbed you or shot you" I replied acidly, leaning close to him so he could see I wasn't joking. He just smiled up at me in that superior 'I know something that you don't' way.

"What!" he was pushing my buttons again!

"You are totally kissable when you're mad" and then he winked.

"Oh no you didn't" I snapped, whipping my pistol out and pointing it straight between his eyes, I was saved from having to decide whether id release one round of two into his smug face by the roller door exploding.

We all took cover as debris and dust/smoke flew around the room.  
"It needed re-decorating anyway" King coughed beside me

"Do you ever shut up?" I choked back

"Never" and before I could even formulate a comeback he grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me in for a hard kiss, releasing me just as abruptly he picked up the dropped shotgun and smiled into my shocked face

"Shoot first, ask questions later" then he disappeared into the smoke. Bastard! I was going to kill him!

HAHAHAHA Suspense! Suspense! Who is behind door number 1? Will Adi kill King? Tune in next time peeps!


	10. Chapter 10

WELL PROCRASTINATION WON AGAIN...IF IM NOT PASSING MY COURSES I MIGHT AS WELL BE ENTERTAINING THE MASSES WITH KING AND HIS NEVER ENDING PLETHY OF RIDICULAS REMARKS.

NOW WHERE WERE WE...OH YES THAT'S RIGHT AIDEEN IS ABOUT TO PITCH A FIT ABOUT BEING KISSED BY ONE HANNIBAL KING.

Unfortunately revenge was going to have to wait. A bullet skimmed the top of my head as I gathered my senses and remembered to duck. This was no time to become some random's clay pigeon.

King was at the base of the stairs shooting at what looked to be black shadows in the thick smoke. Whistler hadn't moved but was making use of the higher ground to pick her targets. Damn that girl was a good shot. I watched her hit a black shape left of centre right through the heart then saw it disappear in a puff of ash. ASH! Wait just a minute! Vampires! Goddamnit!

"You have got to be kidding me, haven't I dealt with enough of your kind in the last 48hrs?" I snarled shooting my first shadow in the back of the head.

They were everywhere, black shapes slithering across the floor, around the cars even up the god damn walls! So much for 2 vans! More like 20! Chaos, absolute chaos! I starting shooting through the smoke attempting to hit moving targets left, right and centre, trying to at the very least least incapacitate as many as possible before they reached our position.

"Some help!" I glanced down to see King grappling with three vampires. Shit! I still couldn't see properly to take a shot so close to him, damn smoke! Hadn't these people heard of ventilation?!

I was running down the stairs before my brain even registered the thought. A hand shot out from under the stairs sending me somersaulting down the last few and straight into King and his attackers, all five of us went sprawling across the floor.

I had my Sai out instantly; while King was still getting to his feet I slammed my blade through the visor of a helmet and into the right eye of the first vampire, then kneeling I staked the second one that was out cold on the floor where I had landed on it. I looked up to see King snapping the neck of the third one and then releasing a couple of rounds into the body just to make sure it stayed dead.

Up close I was able to see that they were wearing some sort of space suit that had obviously been designed so that they could move around in sunlight, not exactly inconspicuous but apparently useful for surprise day attacks on vampire hunters hiding out in abandoned factories. Looking at their fashion choices would have to wait. As I stood I realised that King and I had been cornered and cut off from the stairs. Above us Whistler and the doctor were holding their own, creating pile after pile of ash, completely unaware of the somewhat dire situation developing downstairs. We had our backs up against a wall, the stairs I had so gracefully descended moments ago on our left but inaccessible due to an ever growing semi circle of vampires that were quickly closing in.  
"Plan?" King asked. He was weapon-less, his shotgun emptied in the first minute and his other two pistols on the floor behind the approaching vampires.

"Just stay out of my way" I hissed and not waiting for a reply I launched myself at the closest vamp. The world slowed down as my body speed up. Moving in a graceful blur across the factory floor, pivoting, ducking, swinging and dodging I cleared a way to the stairs and the discarded shot gun for King. Twisting to keep myself between him and the vampires while he reloaded I flung my left blade at one of them trying to come at me from the side. But the act distracted me from the others and I saw too late one to the right of me raised his gun; he exploded into a pile of ash nano-seconds later. Apparently King was back in the fight. Between the two of us we cleared another five before I felt a hand grab the back of my jacket and yank me back towards the stairs. Reacting instantly I went limp causing my attacker to let go as my weight pulled us to the floor, rolling to the side as I hit the ground I came up quickly onto my knee and flung my sai at him. King let out a bellow of pain, my sai embedded in his left thigh.

"Fuck" he shouted as he yanked it out. I had hit the guy I had just spent the last five minutes trying to keep alive, and boy did he look pissed off. But in my defence I had told him to stay out of my way.

"Aideen, get up the fuckin stairs before Whistler blows us the fuck up" he shouted at me. I shook off my shock, and quickly moved past him towards the stairs.

"And take your mini pitchfork with you" he snapped pushing my sai into my hand as he pushed me up the stairs. We were halfway up when the first explosion went off, knocking us both off balance and pushing King on top of me.

"Move!" he snarled and practically threw me up the last few stairs. The room shook as another explosion went off sending debris flying towards us. King pinned me to the ground, protecting me with his body as parts of flaming car fell around us.

"If you get me killed my Ma is going to be so mad at you" he said pulling me up and hustling us through the door.

THERE YOU GO, A LITTLE MORE TO KEEP YOU GOING.


	11. Chapter 11

I KNOW I KNOW IM SORRY! IT'S BEEN MONTHS SINCE I LAST UPDATED!

King shoved me through the door and into a hallway between landings. The doc and Whistler were already there, both leaning against the wall reloading and checking various flesh wounds. King bolted the door and continued his string of profanities.

"What did you do to your leg King? Run into the vamp's teeth instead of their gun?" The doc asked as she moved to add pressure to his leg.  
King glared at me over her head.  
"No, that was me" I smiled ever so sweetly at the grumbling giant and winked at the doctor's shocked face.

"Why?" the look on her face was priceless  
I shrugged. "He got in my way"

Whistler snickered. King's face started to go red.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up! It's hilarious until it happens to you. Shit! Doc, that hurts" King tried to bat her hands away.

"Oh shush, don't be such a cry baby, it's a deep puncture but she didn't hit bone" she finished tying off the bandage and moved to look over me. From what I could tell there was barely a scratch on me. I'd have bruises obviously from my graceful descent down the stairs earlier and maybe a cracked rib. All in all we were looking pretty good for having just taken on a small army of the undead variety.

"Plan?" I asked no one in particular. No one got a chance to answer as the door we'd just run through was suddenly peppered with bullets. We ran; straight down the hallway and through another door and onto the walkways of the main room and then the lights went out.

"Oh fuck me" whispered King, I had to agree.

"This just keeps getting better and better" whispered the doc.

None of us had torches and the emergency lighting, if they had any; hadn't come on yet. We were quite literally in the dark and it had gone very, very quiet.  
Slowly and with ears straining to hear any noise of pursuit we moved across the walkway, using the railing as a guide, aiming for the door that led back to the infirmary where I had started this wonderful adventure with everyone.  
Whistler had her hand on the door handle when the lights suddenly came back on, blinding us for a second.  
"Oh fuck me sideways" and as soon as my pupils had adjusted, again I had to agree.  
We were surrounded. They were suspended from roof aiming down at us, they were on the ground aiming up at us and they were on the walkway behind us, just aiming at us. But the creepy thing was no one was moving. They were like black statues, albeit heavily armed black statues, but statues all the same.

"Why aren't they killing us?" Doc asked her lips barely moving. The four of us had frozen as well. It was almost as if everybody was thinking 'as long as we don't move they can't see us'.  
"I would greatly appreciate it if you would lower your weapons" a horribly familiar voice called from behind the vampires on the walkway. "It would be a terrible shame if we had to kill you all, especially you Aideen" continued the voice from my never ending nightmare.  
"Oh dear god no"

"What Aideen? Who is it?" Whistler whispered. I hadn't even realised I had spoken out loud.

"Put down your weapons Aideen, you know that i'm not a very patient man"  
My mind was spinning, trying to think of every, any way that this could play out with us alive and still holding our weapons. The doctor was crouching to my right aiming down at those below us, King to my left aiming up at those on the roof. Whistler was behind me facing down the walkway the same as me. We were mince meat.  
"Any bright ideas?" asked King  
I made brief eye contact with Whistler and shook my head.  
"Ok, weapons down" she sighed and we dropped our guns.  
Silencers went off and there was a sharp pain in my neck, I grabbed the wound pulling out a long black dart  
"Oh fu..." I heard then black.


	12. Chapter 12

It's funny the things you think about as your conscience crawls its way up out of a drug induced haze. Even before I was fully awake I knew exactly where I was. I could feel the nasty wooden divide on the old couch King had 'oh so gently' placed me on earlier pressing into my back. Part of my mind was screaming at me to wake up, something is terribly wrong. Yet another part was wondering if I had dreamed it all and I would open my eyes and see Zoe peering back at me. Some weird déjà vu syndrome thingy I guess. Then the pain came, slowly at first. Starting with the dull ache in my leg and then the piercing pain of my cracked rib as the last of the drug finally wore off.  
"There's no place like home, there's no place like home" I would have tapped my heels together to add to the effect, but no amount of wishful thinking was going to get me out of this one. So I took a somewhat painful deep breath and opened my eyes; and oh did I wish to god I hadn't!

"Welcome back Aideen" he said.

I sat up quickly, too quickly. The pain in my chest causing me to see stars briefly; and there he was, standing no more than five feet from me, the master demon from my personal never ending nightmare.

"Doctor Flinders how wonderful of you to join us" I glared up at him, sarcasm dripping from every word.

He smiled in response. "You always did have such a wonderful way with words my pet" and he stepped in as if to brush my hair from my face.

"I am not your pet" I hissed at him and smacked his outstretched hand away, which was closely followed by the sound of many firearms being aimed in my direction. Chuckling quietly the good doctor stepped back out of striking distance and smiled smugly at me. Under normal circumstances one might mistake the good doctor as a distinguished gentleman like one out of those old movies with Audrey Hepburn or Doris Day; the kind of man that aged well and just screamed respectability. He was tall and lithe with dark hair that was greying at the temples, he had an expressive face with a strong jaw, many women could be forgiven for thinking him at the very least handsome; what gave away his lack of a soul were his empty blue eyes, devoid of any emotion. No facial expression he made was ever reflected in those eyes.

"I see you've made some new friends" I flippantly remarked making an arc with my arm to indicate the large semi circle of vampires that were also present in the room; quickly counting in my head about 20 in my line of sight.

"I'm not the only one, it seems pet, you've been a busy girl since we were last together" he crooked an eyebrow and then using a couple of fingers directed someone off to my right to come forward. He then took a seat on the couch to my left. King, the doc and Whistler were brought out of the shadows and tossed on the ground between us.  
" What have you done to them?" I snapped angry that he could see the worry on my face and hear it in my voice.

"Nothing" he said sounding mildly insulted at my accusation. "They are just taking a little bit longer to shake off the sedative than you" then almost as if on cue King groaned and started moving. Half a minute later Whistler's eye's flittered open and then the doctor groaned softly.

King sat up suddenly and the vampires around us moved in closer making their presence known. King froze and his eyes slitted as he took in his surroundings, his glare finally coming to rest on Flinders.  
"Okay two questions, one, who the fuck are you? and two, can I get the number for the guy that does your hair, cause I was thinking of getting a trim...." King was cut off when one of the vampires went to smack him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle but he didn't quite get there; King swung around fast as lightening grabbing hold of the weapon and ripping it out of the vampires hands aimed it at his would be attacker. Whistler was almost instantly crouched by his side with a small knife in her hand that the vampires had obviously missed.


	13. Chapter 13

I have to admit, Flinders somewhat surprised expression at King and Whistler's actions did give me some warm and fuzzies. _'That's right dickhead we're not out of the game yet'._

The feeling went away just as quickly when a blade suddenly appeared at my throat, applying just enough pressure to draw blood. Typical bad guys, they never play fair.

The smug look had returned to Flinders face. "I would suggest you put down your weapons Abigail Whistler and Hannibal King, we wouldn't want Aideen to suddenly lose the use of her carotid artery now would we?" Nobody missed his obvious use of their full names.  
"You didn't answer my questions" King calmly replied not dropping the gun.

Flinders eyes slitted, Danger, Danger; he flicked a finger and the blade at my neck disappeared, a split second later a black arm curved round the left side of my head holding it in place by grabbing just under my chin, I saw a flash of silver.

I screamed; the blade slamming down into my collar bone and twisting for affect. My left hand clawed at the arm still holding me, while the right tried to get to the hand holding the knife, but every time I touched his hand the bastard twisted it deeper.  
"What the fuck!" King shouted dropping his gun and making to move towards me.

"Don't make another move Hannibal" King froze. Flinders cold voice cut through my red haze of pain, sending chills down my spine. Yeah now he was pissed.

"I warned you on the bridge I'm not a very patient man. The only reason you're alive is because a colleague of mine requested it" he said the word colleague with very thinly veiled disgust.

"If any of you move again, I will have you watch her bleed out. Now sit down!" King slowly sat not taking his eyes off my attacker; Whistler relinquished her knife and sat also. Doctor Jenna now fully awake from my scream sat up straight, blinking rapidly, obviously trying to catch up on the situation.

"Thank you Jaun, you can release her" I screamed again as the knife was ripped back out, the wound bleeding freely now, I was starting to feel a little light headed.

"Yeah thanks dickhead" I muttered, trying to sit up to see the damage, but failing, finding that my right arm useless.  
"The drugs have thinned her blood, she's going to bleed out anyway if you don't apply pressure soon" The doc calmly stated from her cross legged position on the floor.

"Yeah that would be an awkward conversation to have with your colleague" King said, the relaxed tone contradicted by his clenched fists "Oops my bad, accidently killed one of the hostages while I was the playing the part of a sadistic psychopath" King finished with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.  
"Doctor Price, if you'd be so kind?" Flinders indicated for her to assist me. The doc was by my quicker than I thought possible for a human to move, and I realised I was starting to feel the effects of blood loss. The only reason I hadn't passed out, was because I was already slumped on the couch.

"We've got to get this jacket off Adi, so I can look at the wound" I just nodded dumbly and tried to move my body to assist. I passed out briefly when she pulled the sleeve down my right arm.

I came to again, with her tearing strips off my jacket and using them to bind the shoulder as best she could.  
"This would be easier if I had my medical kit" she angrily said over her shoulder to nonchalant Flinders.

The bastard had the audacity to shrug.  
"I need her alive, anything more than that is simply a bonus" was his cold reply

"What do you mean YOU need her?" Whistler asked  
"Yeah aren't we all early Christmas gifts to your partner or should I say vampire in crime?" King added his words becoming clipped with frustration at how vague Flinders was being.  
Flinders looked at me over the doc's head, disappointment on his face. "You didn't tell them about me pet? After all that time we spent together? I thought it meant more to you?" he was mocking me, and I was starting to see red, and this time it had nothing to do with the pain in my shoulder.  
"Sure I did" I replied sweetly. "I distinctly recall telling them about the scum who kidnapped and tortured me and countless others in their godless pursuit of power and wealth, and then how I screwed them all over by escaping and killing their surviving experiments. I may or may not have mentioned the part where I leaked some of the story to some friendly congressmen, whom last time I heard demanded that you close down." I paused to take a breath, talking was painful. "But the part about you being in bed with vampires, well that's new even to me" I finished somewhat out of breath.


	14. Chapter 14

SORRY AGAIN FOR THE DELAY. ENJOY!  
PS. I LOVE GETTING YOUR REVIEWS, FEEL FREE TO DROP ME A LINE. KEEPS ME MOTIVATED! =D

Flinders had two bright spots of colour on his cheeks and I could see him opening and closing his fists. Why oh why could I not learn to keep my mouth shut in volatile situations? Maybe I'm just a glutton for pain, or really, really stupid? I'd like to think it was the first although it was undoubtedly the latter.

His lips had compressed into a thin line, I think pissed off would have to be an understatement on the mood gauge right now.

"You!" he choked out.

"You were the one who leaked the information! Who had decades of work destroyed by your little government cronies!" he was staring at me as if I had grown another head. He obviously was struggling with the words, as if his brain were still trying to catch up with his mouth.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see King's smile getting bigger as Flinders' face got redder. Although I was also somewhat enjoying the bad guy's tanty, I hoped King would keep his mouth shut. I already had one new scar for the night, there was no need to get greedy and collect more.

Flinders was breathing heavily, still staring at me. I tried to keep my face neutral and any antagonising emotions out of my eyes, but I would not be the first to look away. He might have won, but by god he would not see me defeated.  
The room was heavy with tension, Flinders breathing sounded like a steam train in the silence. Even the doc had stopped playing with my shoulder, fear paralysing her. We were all waiting to see what the infuriated man did next.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose attempting to slow down his breathing. He looked like an angry father trying to find calm down and find an inch of self control so that he could deal calmly with an incredibly disobedient child, or in this case children if you count King. I'm sure that between the two of us we could drive the sweetest and calmest person to homicide!

We were spared from Flinder's wrath by the sound of heels approaching. It's funny how you can almost tell the type of person you're about to meet by the sound of their shoes down the hallway. These weren't your clipped clicks of say a lawyer or congresswoman. No these shoes were lifted slightly higher off the ground, you could tell by the slight pause before the next click; the walk of a model, one foot perfectly in front of the other, each step probably causing her hips to sway subtly. The clicks got louder and I didn't need to guess how close she was by sound to work out when she entered the room. Every surrounding male announced her entrance by their subtle change in posture; they all stood up straighter, pushing their chests out. King's eyes went as round as saucers and he whistled quietly under his breath.

"My dear Doctor Flinders, I apologise for my tardiness, but one cannot rush the setting sun" she said from somewhere behind me. It was night time already! Holy crap! Where had the daylight gone? We can't have been out that long? Could we?!

"I hope everything went smoothly" she continued. Her voice was soft, feminine and distinctly eastern European. I would have sat up and craned my neck to see her, but the giant hole in my shoulder wasn't going to cooperate.

Flinder's face cleared and his posture relaxed significantly.

I heard the heels moving behind my sofa, and a second later a blonde vampiric goddess appeared beside Flinders, kissing him on both cheeks in the tradition European greeting.

Why is it that the female villains are always so beautiful? This vampire, whoever she was, certainly looked like she had just stepped off a catwalk in Milan. No wonder King was practically salivating.

"Fiona, you make waiting worthwhile" Flinders smoothly replied taking her hand and raising it to his lips. Ugh! I think I was going to be sick! Both Whistler and the Doc's faces mirrored my disgust. King was blinking rapidly, obviously trying to get his brain back into the drivers' seat.

From the side I saw her give Flinders an enchanting smile, and then she turned to face us captives fully. Yep, just as I thought; big blue anime eyes and soft pouty lips, practically every guy's perfect wet dream. She gave the doc and I a quick cursory glance, then shifted her attention to Whistler and King.

"There are quite a few individuals who are looking forward to getting their fangs into you two" she smiled showing her own set of fangs. "The bounty on your heads will make me very rich indeed"

Whistler's face was blank her gaze focused on a point behind Fiona the vampire's shoulder. King on the other hand met her smile with a look of excited curiosity.

"A bounty?! Really? Just how much are we talking?"

Fiona laughed, obviously amused by his outrageous display of bravado.

"I think I'm going to enjoy our time together Hannibal King" her voice took on a sultry purr as she leaned towards him, getting close enough to blow on his ear. King's smile grew larger as he turned his face so that their noses were almost touching. "Oh I don't think you'll like me" his voice also lowering, the sound coming from deeper in his chest.

"And why's that?" Fiona purred back

"Because I don't do love bites" King snapped back, his face instantly going hard, and before Fiona could blink he had grabbed her on either side of the face and smashed his forehead into her nose.

Shrieking Fiona stumbled away from King, clutching at her now mangled nose, the flawless face quickly turning red with her blood. King disappeared under a sea of vampires who proceeded to kick him into senselessness.

"Enough!" Fiona shouted after a minute, her voice muffled by the handkerchief that Flinders had produced for her nose.

"I need him alive" she explained as the vampires moved back into their previous semi circle position.

Whistler and the Doc rushed over the check on the unconscious man.  
"He's breathing" the doc whispered in relief.  
King moaned, regaining consciousness when the doc lifted his shirt to check for internal bleeding.  
He rolled his eyes towards the bleeding Fiona and smirk graced his battered face. Our eyes met, and just for an instant I contemplated having his babies if we made it out of this alive. He must have seen something in my face that reflected the thought, because his smirk turned into a grin. I realised I was also grinning like a fool. I looked over King to Whistler and she met my smile with a quick one of her own. It was official, we were all insane and totally screwed.


	15. Chapter 15

With our mental instability now established, it was time to start thinking our way out of this steaming pile of vampire shit.

Obviously that was going to be easier said than done.

Lying on the coach, my body steadily pumping out the undead's beverage of choice, it could be argued I wasn't in the best position to be strategising our escape, but on the plus side, everyone seemed to be ignoring me for the moment.

The Doc was still fussing over King with Fiona glaring and muttering obscenities at them. Flinders was attempting to fix the bitch's nose before it healed crooked, and the vampires that weren't surrounding King held Whistler just off to the side at gunpoint, apparently they had learnt their lesson about those two.

With everybody's attention focused elsewhere, I guess it's not that surprising that I heard it before they did.

A light scratching, sliding sound was coming from above us. The huge round industrial ventilation tubes that crisscrossed the roof probably wouldn't have held the weight of a full grown adult, but a child...they might just hold a child or a ballsy little girl who had more courage than sense if you want to be specific.

Resisting the urge to look up and pinpoint exactly where she was, I made a split second decision, god this was going to hurt.

Bringing my knees to my chin and using my one good arm I propelled myself vertical enough that I could leap over the back of the couch. As soon as I had moved I'd felt my vision going, ignoring the blood loss I made a dash towards the door, thoughts of the little girl in the roof keeping me upright.

My "escape" had the desired effect, much noise was created. There was shouting, I can't be sure but I'm fairly positive I heard a male voice yell "run forest run" and then there was the pounding of footsteps as a couple of fangs gave chase.

"Don't shoot her! I need her alive" I heard Flinders call out to my pursuers. He needn't have worried; I only made it another 10 meters before I passed out.

I came too sprawled on the floor where I had fallen, just meters from the door. Something was making my eyes itch and then I sneezed, which brought on a whole world of hurt and then sweet blessed darkness.

The second time I regained consciousness I lifted my head to see world war three being waged around me...and it was snowing.

Wait a minute...Snow?

"Aideen!" the shout caused me to snap fully awake. I rolled onto my back just in time to see a smoking black shape as the vampire leapt on top of me, fangs aimed at my throat.

I brought my good arm up just in time to save my jugular, but unfortunately a good chunk of my forearm was sacrificed in the process.

A shot rang out and the vamp rained ash all over me.

I sat up, "What the..." only to have to drop down again to avoid UV grenade that whistled past where my head had just been. Covering my eyes as it exploded I tried again.

"What the fuck!"

"Get a move on lazy bones" a familiar voice drawled above me.

A hand grabbed me by the front of my jacket hoisting me off the ground and onto my feet, "you've missed all the fun." King let me go, only to grab me around the waist when my legs gave out.

"Is my presence overwhelming you again sweetheart?"

I gave him what I hoped was a dirty look and then got distracted by the fine coating of metallic powder that seemed to cover both of us from head to toe.

"What?" I asked indicating to the powder

"Silver"

I must have still looked confused because he added "the cavalry arrived".

With King holding me up I was finally able to get my bearings without passing out again.

The room was slightly hazy from the silver that was still floating in the air, but I could make out the Doc tending to the right leg of one of the guys I had seen earlier in the loading bay while Whistler and another guy I hadn't met were standing over a prone Flinders. There wasn't a vampire in sight.

"Oh, I thought when they weren't brought in they had been killed" I murmured to King, the pieces slowly falling into place.

"Nah, looks like in his haste to get you, your boyfriend Flinders missed Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. Not to mention our ace in the hole" he winked at me, then looking up grinned "speak of the devil here she is now"

Our ace in the hole as King so aptly put it, came flying towards us at such a speed that when she hit I would have been knocked on my arse if King hadn't still been supporting me.

"Umph!" I gasped, in both surprise and pain at her hug.

She let go, her face scrunching up when she looked at her hands.

"Your all covered in blood"

"Mmmhmm" I mumbled, a warm floaty feeling was suddenly starting to fill my body, the pain I felt only a few minutes ago seeming to become a distant memory.

Zoe's concerned face was starting to blur and I heard myself slur something about a long hot bath, a little spark in the back of my brain told me this was bad.

"Aideen! Look at me!" King's voice seemed to come from far away, and I couldn't focus on his face even when he grabbed my jaw forcing me to look at him.


	16. Chapter 16

"Four" I croaked out, my voice rasping against a sandpaper throat. I still had my eyes closed but I could tell we were in a moving vehicle, car maybe, or more likely a van because I was quite comfortably stretched out.

"She's alive" Zoe squealed from somewhere up front. I heard someone scrambling towards me and then what felt like a ten ton weight dropped on my chest.

"Zoe...off...now" I gasped, my compressed lungs causing the sensation of breathing to burn my tortured windpipe.

I heard a masculine chuckle and then felt the weight being lifted off my chest.

"Thankyou" I croaked and carefully opened my eyes.

It was dark out and I hadn't been too far off my guess of vehicle. We were in a mini bus of sorts which explained how there had been room for me to lie down.

"Four what?" King asked from the seat directly across from me, he had Zoe on his lap.

"Huh?" I rasped slowly easing myself up so I could see him and Zoe better in the shadows.

"You said 'four' just now when you woke, so hence my question, four what?" King dragged out the question speaking to me like I didn't have a solid grasp of the English language.

"oh" was the only response I gave.

I wasn't really listening to him. I was too busy trying to work out if all or any of my limbs still worked. My body felt like how I imagined it would feel if it had been hit by truck, only to have the truck reverse back and forwards over me again several times just to make sure I had been well and truly squished.

"Aideen!"

"What!" I snapped at him. He was giving me a look that could probably be described as a mixture of frustration and wry amusement.

"Four what?" he dragged out the words even more slowly this time; obviously he believed I was mentally impaired because before I could answer he continued.

"Four apples? Four dollars? Four courses?" I glared at him and opened my mouth but he cut me off again.

"Four fingers? Four people?" then he got that glint in his eye

"Four times at the horizontal Tango? Four orga..."  
"PG!" I heard someone snap from up front. I hadn't managed to pull myself high enough into a sitting position to see over the backs of the seats in front of me, but the voice sounded a lot like the Doc's.

King grunted slightly and had the courtesy to look embarrassed at his almost slip in front of the little person sitting on his lap, who was currently looking back and forth between us with a scrunched up look of extreme concentration on her face.

"So?" Zoe asked me, clearly as curious as King.

Honestly what a big fuss over nothing.

"Four times I have passed out in 24 hours" King and Zoe looked disappointed at my answer.

"What were you expecting? Lottery numbers?" I rasped sarcastically.

Zoe laughed at my tone and jumped off King's lap coming over to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm glad you're alive Aidy, you're funny" she whispered in my ear. I snorted in disgust at how warm and fuzzy her words made me feel.

She scrambled back towards the front of the bus leaving me feeling a little spark of joy at her affection towards me.

"Shouldn't she be strapped in somewhere?" I muttered darkly to cover how attached I was becoming to that kid.

King saw right through me.

"She's got you wrapped around her little finger, there's no hope for you now" he mocked.

"Shut up" I growled "I want to enjoy the fact that i'm conscious for a little while if you don't mind"

Raising his eyebrow he thumped a hand over his heart.

"You wound me deeply Aideen. I thought we were past all this. I was ready to settle down with you, find a nice home in the country, but not too country, we would need to have access to good food and coffee of course."  
He paused I assume to make sure I was still listening; like I had any choice in the matter. It's not as if I could just knock myself unconscious again.

"I was thinking maybe a baby or two" he continued, taunting me with laughing eyes.

"Whistler" I groaned

"Shoot him please, I beg you" I hadn't seen or heard the woman since I had come to, but I had no doubt she was nearby and armed.

"Busy driving at the moment" she called from up front.

Shit! Which reminded me!

"Are we safe?" I asked King quietly, hoping to keep the conversation out of the hearing of small ears.

He nodded becoming serious. He left his seat and moved over to me.

"Here, do you think you can sit up?" he asked, hands slipping under my arms when I nodded.

"God almighty I hurt" I moaned as he helped shift me so that my back rested against the window and my legs stretched along the seat facing the aisle. He stayed leaning over me, one arm wrapped around me as he rocked with the motion of the van. I could hear the Doc, Zoe and Whistler talking quietly about motels and clothes shopping.

Our faces were so close we were probably sharing the same air, it was the perfect distance to whisper quietly so that Zoe couldn't overhear, it was also rather intimate.

"So" I whispered quietly

"What happens now?"


End file.
